Organic-interested people - parents or not - the country over
have long told me they cannot find the percentage of organic items
they would like to fill their lives with. They don't have
enough, or sometimes any, choices, they lament to me, at the
grocery store, and certainly not if they want to buy lunch out when
at the office. It's hard, they email me, to find local milk,
and/or vegetables, let alone pasture-raised animals. The refrain is
always the same: "I. Don't. Live. In.
California."
Well neither do I. And while New York, my hometown, has a
tremendous variety of organic items, from food to beauty products
to crib mattress to cleaning products to year-round farmers'
markets, it, too, is not California. A few years ago when I was
first researching The Complete Organic Pregnancy, living
the lifestyle was much more difficult than it is today, even in New
York. Which I find heartening; the bounty has really arrived. Which
means it is and will be arriving all over the country. But even as
it's easier for me to go grab lunch without too much
forethought, New York still isn't California.
Why all the fuss about Cali? As I type these words, I'm in
California, for the first time in years. The babe's paternal
grandfather and paternal uncle both celebrated milestone big deal
birthdays this year, so we're all gathered together at said
uncle's family home in the Napa Valley. And you know what? It
really is easier in California. Organic and eco-friendly items are
the norm, not the exception. Some of the things I have noticed
since arriving: at the San Francisco airport, there are signs on
the Air Train platform about not pouring substances down drains
that could harm crabs, and bins for garbage, plastic, and
newspapers. This is not the sort of thing I expect to see at any of
New York's three airports any time soon, much to my
chagrin.
All of the fruit I agonize over eating in the winter in New York -
when no fruit is growing locally - comes from California. So that
conundrum is clearly missing. And of course, being in wine country,
it's a cinch to drink locally. I have found a wealth of
vineyards growing organic grapes, all less than five minutes from
the house. And we have had a lovely time visiting them, and eyeing
weeds among the vines, as sure a sign of no spraying as anything.
But even the small vineyards that are spraying chemical pesticides
have solar panels. The sun here is relentless, and begging to be
harnessed for use. And the talk at most pourings - organic or not
-- turns to biodynamic farming before a taster (that would be me)
even brings it up.
Today my family swam in a pool that is treated with some kind of
eco salt system instead of chlorine, got all of our electricity
from solar panels, ate organic Californian strawberries, Pacific
Ocean salmon, Cowgirl Creamery Mount Tam cheese, among other
deliciousness, and washed it down with ros wine that comes from
vines we can see from the back porch. I ended my afternoon a little
further down the road, at a tasting at Ehlers
Estate. The grapes are organic, the farming biodynamic, the
cleaning products green. We had a lovely chat with a Brooklyn-born
and raised man who poured the wine. His wife is expecting their
first baby and they're very concerned about having a pure
pregnancy.
I'd say he and his wife are now living in just the right place
to make it happen without much effort. But as much as I've
enjoyed the ease of maintaining my green-ness at this family
reunion, I also maintain that people anywhere in the country can
find what they need and want to find if they look for it. So if you
don't live in California, search for farms and farmers'
markets near you at Local Harvest and
don't forget to ask the powers that be at your supermarket -
big chain store or tiny family operated shop - to stock what you
want them to stock. And tell your friends to ask, too. Demand
equals supply. If you have the space and the time to grow your own
food, plant a garden. It's currently all the rage. Go ahead,
create your own California.
posted by Alexandra
Related links from the Daily Green:
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Most Recent Toxic Toy Recalls
*
The Dirty Dozen: 12 Toxic Foods to Eat Organic
*
Take the Quiz: How Green Do You Want to Be?
*
DIY Organic Baby Food
*
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